1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling the magnification of an image in a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
A converter lens or zoom lens has been widely used in a camera to optically vary the size of an image of an object to be photographed by the camera. In recent video cameras or the like, the object image picked-up by an image pickup device, i.e., a CCD (charged coupled device), is positioned on an image forming surface to be electronically processed to control the size of the image.
In the prior art, if the image picked-up by the CCD is electrically enlarged, the information density per unit surface area is reduced. Hence, the degree of enlargement of the image is limited to the extent that a good resolution can be obtained.
When a converter lens or zoom lens is used to increase the size of the image, a high resolution can be obtained even for an enlarged image, however this complicates the structure of the optical system.